Suppose I asked you for the most valuable item you own. What would it be, and would you loan it to me? Is it your car, your home, or an expensive piece of jewelry? You may have thought … “well, my kid.” Either way, I can guess for most of you; the answer is no. You won’t loan me your most valuable possession, which is totally fine. But what if a really great man, preaching on the street, claiming to be in constant fellowship with God, asked you. No? Ok. This is exactly what happened in Luke 18:18-29. Jesus asked a rich Religious Leader to give up not his most valuable possession but all of his possessions and follow Him. Today, I’m sharing 3 subliminal ideas I believe Jesus asked the Religious leader to let go of to obtain eternal life.
His Stuff. Just like the religious leader, I love my stuff too—all of it. I cringe at the thought of letting it ALL go. “Even my laptop, God, I just bought it.” In this text, the Religious leader was literally asked to let go of His possessions. This is a question of the heart. For many reasons, we cling to our possessions because they’ve grabbed our hearts. They serve as a comfort and a distraction. Jesus indirectly asked, does your desire for eternal life have more of your heart than your possessions? Is the kingdom worth the discomfort or your undivided attention?
His Identity. When Jesus says to the religious leader, “Sell all of your possessions and follow me,” He’s not only asking that the Religious Leader get rid of his money and possessions; but also that he step down from his role as a religious leader to be lead by Jesus. We don’t know this man’s name; we only know him as the rich Religious Leader. This IS his identity. Even if we knew his name, his status would follow. Ex. That’s Harold, the rich Religious Leader. Jesus axed what the religious leaders probably felt to be the reason he was alive.
His Mindset. “Follow me” was not Jesus’ way of saying walk with me all across the Middle East. It’s Jesus’ way of communicating to the religious leader that you know the law and follow the commandments – but you don’t know me. I am the way to eternal life. Knowing me is the only way to know the Father. So lay down your rules and watch me model before you how to become one with the Father. To this day, we are still in this tug of war with religious people. They know their bibles, but they don’t know Jesus. Can you imagine what this meant to this religious leader? He was emersed in a culture that identified and honored him for being religious. He gained his status for his commitment to the law. And he probably genuinely believe what he was doing was right until he ran into Jesus, who told him to rid himself of all of it.
Unfortunately, the religious leader was unable to commit that day. He understood that Jesus was asking him to lay down his entire life, not just wealth as we often teach this text. Luke 10:27 gives a straightforward to the original question, what must I do to inherit eternal life. “The man answered, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Luke 18 doesn’t necessarily teach us to sell everything for Christ (though we may have to) but teaches us the cost of living for Christ. When we choose to follow Jesus, we must put what we own, who we are, and our perspective under Him who we love and follow literally forsaking everything with all of our heart, strength, and mind. He is our Lord, Our King. His Spirit is our guide and teacher. The Father our identity and provider. Everything we have or need is now in Him.
Today, let’s question where we fit in this text. Ask the Lord to reveal to you where and how to let go so you can follow Jesus with all of you. He is the only way we receive eternal life. See you next week.
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